A Recovery Program Based

on

8 Principals from

Informational

Packet

WELCOME TO CELEBRATE RECOVERY!

Celebrate Recovery is a Christ-centered recovery program based on the

Beatitudes. It is currently being used in over 30,000 churches worldwide.

Since 1991, over 3 million people have gone through Celebrate Recovery

addressing many of life’s hurts, habits, and hang-ups.

Celebrate Recovery was written by Pastors Rick Warren and John Baker.

The purpose of Celebrate Recovery is to fellowship and celebrate God's healing

power in our lives through the 12 Steps and 8 Recovery Principles. This

experience allows us to "be changed". We open the door by sharing our

experiences, strengths and hopes with one another. In addition, we become willing

to accept God's grace in solving our lives' problems.

By working and applying these Biblical principles, we begin to grow spiritually.

We become free from our addictive, compulsive, and dysfunctional behaviors.

This freedom creates peace, serenity, joy, and most importantly, a stronger

personal relationship with God and others.

You may be thinking that recovery is just for those with alcohol or drug problems.

We’ve found that only one-third of the people attending Celebrate Recovery are

dealing with chemical dependencies. As Pastor Rick Warren says “We all have

sinned, we’ve all fallen short, we’ve all been hurt, and we’ve all hurt others.

Everybody needs recovery.” All of life’s hurts, habits, and hang-ups are

addressed through this one curriculum. People come to CR for a wide variety of

issues. Some of these are Adult Children of Alcoholics, Anger, Chemically

Addiction, Codependency, Eating Disorders, Financial Recovery, Love &

Relationship Addiction, Sexual Addiction, Women in Relationship with a

Sexually Addicted Man, Food Addiction, Sexual/Physical/Emotional Abuse.

HURTS, HABITS AND HANG-UPS

A hurt, habit, or hang-up is something that hinders your walk

INTERESTED IN STARTING A

CELBRATE RECOVERY MINISTRY?

Celebrate Recovery meets 52 weeks a year, providing a large group teaching time of life

changing lessons and open share breakout groups where participants are invited to share openly

about their struggles and victories and on another day of the week Step Study groups utilizing

the Celebrate Recovery Participate Guides for deeper growth and freedom from addictive and

compulsive behaviors.

Getting Started:

www.celebraterecovery.com online for review. Print and gather essential information

and prepare an informational binder.

www.celebraterecovery.com

The updated Celebrate Recovery starter kit includes:

A Celebrate Recovery Leader’s Guide with 90-day strategy and testimonies

A leader's resource DVD-ROM, complete with Celebrate Recovery Leader’s Guide text for

25 customizable lessons, and a testimonial video featuring Rick Warren

A pastor’s resource DVD-ROM with sermon transcripts, MP3 sermon files, and video

featuring Rick Warren

Your First Step to Celebrate Recovery book

A Celebrate Recovery soft cover Bible

One of each participant's guide (4 total)

It’s time for your congregation to stop looking back and start looking forward to God’s future

for them – a future worth celebrating!

Leader’s Guide and the Participant’s Guides, paying particular attention to the “90 Day Kick off

Strategy”. (If you are not yet ready to invest in a program kit, we recommend that you purchase

one CR Leaders Guide and a set of the participant guides.)

Celebrate Recovery.

Understand that if you choose to call your ministry “Celebrate

Recovery” you must model Saddleback’s Celebrate Recovery!

Make an appointment with your Senior Pastor and share your passion to start a Celebrate

Recovery Ministry. An excellent tool is the Senior Pastor Support Video by Pastor Rick

Warren. This video plays for 20 minutes and addresses five issues that should be important

to every senior pastor. You may purchase a Senior Pastor Support Video on-line.

Locate your CR State Representative and Celebrate Recovery ministries running in your

area. Visit the website at www.celebraterecovery.com. Click on CR Groups on the menu

and this will take you to the group finder. To contact your state representative click on Find

Your State Representative under CR Groups on the Menu.

Attend every Celebrate Recovery that models Saddleback’s Celebrate Recovery. If there is a

Celebrate Recovery in your city, you might want to inquire about attending/joining a step

study with their church in order to be trained in the process. Develop relationships with

other CR ministry leaders, praying for one another.

Plan now to attend either an East or West Coast Summit. These seminars are held every July

and August. You can register by visiting www.celebraterecovery.com. Take as many

potential ministry leaders with you. It will be enjoyed by all: Invite your senior pastor to

attend as well.

Check online for any One Day Seminars in your area. This is a great way to meet others

interested in starting or growing Celebrate Recovery ministries in your area. Understanding

that attending a One Day Seminar does not replace the ideal, of attending the 3-Day

Summit.

Order Celebrate Recovery training material; you will need to train your leaders. Just

some of the areas of training available includes, small group formats, group guidelines,

group dynamics and how to Orient your new leaders. Advanced Leadership Kit available at

www.celebraterecovery.com.

How Celebrate Recovery Started

Celebrate Recovery started 1991 at Saddleback Church. At that time the church

was meeting at a high school gymnasium. After John Baker was unable to share

openly about Jesus Christ in his secular recovery meetings and was uncomfortable

sharing about his struggle with alcohol in his men’s Bible study, John wrote

Pastor Rick the now famous concise 13-page single space letter outlining the

vision God had given him for Celebrate Recovery. Pastor Rick said, “Great John,

do it.”

The first night 45 people showed up and Celebrate Recovery was born. With only

four groups, men’s and women’s chemical dependency and men’s and women’s

codependency, the ministry has grown from those four groups to the twenty open

share groups we have today. Thousands of people have gone through the

workbooks and are now serving in CR and the church. Celebrate Recovery has

become the number one outreach at Saddleback Church, with over 70% of its

members come from outside the church.

The first ten years were the birth stage of Celebrate Recovery and now God is

The general meeting, where all participants gather for a time of worship and

either a teaching or a testimony is our LARGE GROUP. The Large Group acts as

the top of the funnel moving people toward changed lives through Christ’s power.

It is a non threatening meeting where someone can come and see what recovery is

all about, without having to commit to sharing any of their hurts, habits, or hang

ups. The Large Group meets for one hour.

At the conclusion of the Large Group, participants are excused to attend groups

that are gender specific (men’s and women’s groups), and recovery issue specific

in larger Celebrate Recovery ministries. These are the OPEN SHARE GROUPS.

The leader of the Open Share group facilitates the use of the small group

guidelines keeping the group a safe place to share life’s struggles and victories.

By attending these Open Share groups, experiencing the safety and

encouragement of the group, and hearing others share of their victories and

changed lives, participants will funnel into the third type of group, the STEP

STUDY GROUP.

The Step Study is a two hour meeting on a different day of the week from the

Large Group and Open Share Groups. The Participants guides are used in this

group, working through them one question at a time. The leader facilitates the

small group guidelines, keeping the group focused on the questions and moving

forward. It is here that the healing takes place, and lives are changed.

In order to gain the full benefits of Celebrate Recovery, participants are

encouraged to attend Main session night, Open Share Groups and Fellowship

and a Step Study group. That is personal recovery and growing our

relationship with Christ; becoming more like Christ.

Large group service provides teaching and personal testimonies provide

hope. Open Share groups provide recovery specific issues and solutions while

step study groups provides an opportunity to thoroughly work the steps in a

group setting opposed to by yourself. In addition, main service nights are

where newcomers find an Accountability Team; Sponsors provide one on

one care and accountability partners provide accountability and healthy

relationships. And then there is the critical component of fellowship that your

main session night provides which is not provided during step study nights.

So, while we encourage and challenge the newcomer to attend both, we can

not make it a requirement. (CR participation is based on voluntarily

attending) We can however, require our CR Leaders to attend both. CR

Leaders who are leading step studies are required to attend both not only to

serve as an example but to continue to grow in their personal recoveries.

Accountability Team:

Accountability Partners and Sponsor

As a new Celebrate Recovery Ministry you may have limited number of people

available to sponsor your newcomers. As leaders you certainly can not sponsor

everyone! That is why developing Accountability Teams are so important.

Initially the emphasis must be put on participates establishing accountability

partners. More and more people will become available to sponsor others after they

have completed a step study group.

You can help a new comer understand the concepts and importance of

Accountability Teams through:

Large Group Teaching

Ways of finding a Sponsor:

Come early for large group

Stay after group for Cross Talk Cafe

Small Group Leaders will have a phone list. Get to know members of the

group – this will give you contacts for accountability partners and a potential

sponsor.

Ask God to lead you to the person of His choosing. Research other Celebrate

Recoveries in your area by visiting www.celebraterecovery.com

To learn more about Accountability Teams review the Celebrate Recovery

Leaders Guide and Participant Guide #2, Lesson 7: Sponsor.

SMALL GROUP GUIDELINES

To ensure that Celebrate Recovery is a safe place, the following

five guidelines are followed in all small groups:

1. Keep your sharing focused on your own thoughts and

feelings. Limit your sharing to three to five minutes.

2. There is NO cross talk. Cross talk is when two individuals

engage in conversation excluding all others. Each person is

free to express his or her feelings without interruptions.

3. We are here to support one another, not "fix" another.

4. Anonymity and confidentiality are basic requirements. What

is shared in the group stays in the group. The only exception

is when someone threatens to injure themselves or others.

5. Offensive language has no place in a Christ-centered recovery

group.

Over the years we have tried hundreds of ideas to maintain the health and growth

of Celebrate Recovery. These are the Seven Keys that have been essential for this

Christ centered recovery ministry.

7 Keys

Senior Pastor Support - Our senior pastor's support makes it acceptable for

someone to be in recovery.

Worship - Is a major difference between a Christ-centered and a secular

recovery program. Worship starts off your Large Group Session.

New Groups – Open Share groups are built around individual needs and

recovery issues, new groups act like blood transfusions in our recovery

ministry.

Fellowship events- Our recovery program needs to be out in the open, a

regular place where people in recovery can join together. Implement a regular

BBQ/Pizza Parlor and Cross Talk Cafe.

Curriculum - Learn to implement this curriculum that is built on God's Word.

Step study Groups provides a group environment to work through the

Celebrate Recovery participant guides

Outreach – Celebrate Recovery is an outreach opportunity to connect with the

unchurched in your community.

Leadership training- Once you stop learning, you stop growing. Trained CR

Leaders will keep your Celebrate Recovery Healthy and growing.

The 8 Principles

1) Realize I’m not God; I admit that I am powerless to control my tendency to do the wrong thing and that my life

is unmanageable.

“Happy are those who know they are spiritually poor” (Matthew 5:3)

2) Earnestly believe that God exists, that I matter to Him, and that He has the power to help me recover.

“Happy are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:4)

3) Consciously choose to commit all my life and will to Christ’s care and control.

“Happy are the meek” (Matthew 5:5)

4) Openly examine and confess my faults to myself, to God, and to someone I trust.

“Happy are the pure in heart” (Matthew 5:8)

5) Voluntarily submit to every change God wants to make in my life and humbly ask Him to remove my character

defects.

“Happy are those whose greatest desire is to do what God requires” (Matthew 5:6)

6) Evaluate all my relationships; offer forgiveness to those who have hurt me and make amends for harm I’ve

done to others except when to do so would harm them or others.

“Happy are the merciful” Happy are the peacemakers” (Matt 5:7, 5:9)

7) Reserve a daily time with God for self-examination, Bible reading, and prayer in order to know God and His

will for my life and to gain the power to follow His will.

8) Yield myself to be used to bring this Good News to others, both by my example and by my words.

“Happy are those who are persecuted because they do what God requires” (Matthew 5:10)

12-Seps and the Biblical Comparisons

The Value of Using

The Celebrate Recovery® Name

Celebrate Recovery® desires to be a network of like-minded, Bible based Christ-centered

recovery ministries. This growing network crosses denominational and cultural boundaries to

help hurting people in our church and community.

There are many benefits of using the Celebrate Recovery® name. Here are just a few:

CONNECTION: Your ministry is part of an international movement to bring Christ-centered

Bible based recovery to the world. As a genuine Celebrate Recovery ministry you join in a

network of thousands of other local Celebrate Recovery ministries reaching people for Christ

and helping them break free from their hurts, hang-ups, and habits.

SUPPORT: Your ministry has the support and partnership of the Celebrate Recovery National

Team, as well as assistance from your state and regional representatives. These entities work to

help your ministry succeed.

RESOURCES: Your ministry has access to the materials and resources from Saddleback

Church that have proven to be invaluable tools in recovery.

VALIDATION: Your ministry is validated in your church and community by being associated

with Celebrate Recovery.

PROMOTION: Your ministry is listed with the other Celebrate Recovery programs on the

official Celebrate Recovery ® websites.

It is our desire for each local Celebrate Recovery ministry to have a clear and consistent

character that identifies it as a genuine part of the Celebrate Recovery movement, yet

maintaining its own creative distinctions of the local ministry and church.

THE TRADEMARK STATEMENT - DNA OF CR

The Celebrate Recovery® name is a registered trademark.

In a desire to protect the integrity of the broader ministry, Celebrate

Recovery® requires that if you use the Celebrate Recovery® name

that the DNA is an irreducible minimum of your program.

The DNA of Celebrate Recovery is non-negotiable because of two

pertinent facts:

1. The DNA revolves around the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

2. The Bible and God’s Word are at the very core of everything we do in Celebrate

Recovery.

The DNA of Celebrate Recovery is all about pointing us back to the Beatitudes;

Jesus’ instructions on how to live a good, productive life. By following the DNA,

groups will start safe and remain safe.

THE TRADEMARK STATEMENT - DNA OF CR

1. Jesus Christ is the one and only Higher Power. The program is a Christ centered

ministry.

2. The Bible* and Celebrate Recovery curriculum consisting of the Leader’s

Guide, four Participant Guides, and the Celebrate Recovery Journal are to be used

exclusively. The Large Group lessons are taught from the Leader’s Guide, keeping

at least the acrostic and the Scriptures as the key points in the lessons. This is to

keep consistency within groups, allowing teachers to be creative with the

introduction and conclusion of each lesson.

Life’s Healing Choices, Your First Step to Celebrate Recovery, and Celebrate

Recovery Daily Devotional books are part of the approved curriculum. You will

find these books may be used in many creative ways in your Large Group,

Newcomers group, and Step Study groups.

Celebration Place is the approved Celebrate Recovery curriculum for kids. The

Landing is the approved Celebrate Recovery curriculum for students (7th- 12th

grade). They’re the only curriculum that ties directly with the Celebrate Recovery

curriculum for adults.

*Use of the Celebrate Recovery Bible is strongly encouraged due to the fact that

it is the only Bible that directly corresponds to the Celebrate Recovery

curriculum. The Celebrate Recovery Bible has been designed to work with the

resources developed and tested in the national and international ministry of

Celebrate Recovery.

3. The ministry is “group based.” All groups are gender specific and use the “Five

Small Group Guidelines” and format.

4. There are NO online Celebrate Recovery groups. Face-to-face group meetings

ONLY.

5. The Celebrate Recovery “Five Small Group Guidelines” are implemented and

followed every time.

Continued on next page

6. We expect each group to be accountable to Christ, the local church, and the

model of Celebrate Recovery established at Saddleback Church.

7. Celebrate Recovery is a ministry of a local church. For 25 years Celebrate

Recovery has not, and will not, attempt to dictate any doctrine or policy of a local

church. It is the position of Celebrate Recovery that a local Celebrate Recovery

ministry should follow the policies of their local church, and continue to be

thankful for their continued support.

A church or organization may decide to use the Celebrate Recovery® curriculum

and mix it with other materials, or other programs, which is certainly up to their

discretion. HOWEVER, they are prohibited from using the Celebrate Recovery®

name.

ITEMS PRODUCED FOR COMMERCIAL SALE USING THE CELEBRATE

RECOVERY NAME OR ANY PART OF THE CELEBRATE RECOVERY

CURRICULUMS IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED.

THIS IS A TRADEMARK AND COPYRIGHT VIOLATION.